Improvement in time-locks



' LEWIS A. HAINES, OF WAKEFIELD, MARYLAND.

vIMPROVEMENT IN TIMEILOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 106,691, dated August 23, 1870.

To all whom it may concern:

Be' it known that I, LEWIS A. HAINES, of Waketield, in the county of Carroll and State of Maryland, have invented a new and Improved Time-Lock; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact dcscription ofthe same, reference heilig had to the accompanying drawing, making a part ot' this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the clockwork and internal mechanism ot' the lock with the bolt thrust'outward into the keeper. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the lock mechanism with' the Abolt withdrawn from the` keeper.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the eccentric,

and its strap, rod, and pawl. Fig. 4 is a side elevation ot' the dial. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the eccentric, with a section ot' the covering-plate, dial, and knob. Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the lockinglever, and Fig. 7 a view in perspective ot' the lock-bolt.

'lhis invention relates to a lock especially designed tor safe-doors.

The invention consists in the combination of a. lock of peculiar construction with a .clockwork in such a manner that the lock-bolt may be withdrawn from the keeper at any hour to which the clock-work may be set, and not a moment soooner.

In the drawing, A is a metal casewhich contains most of the locking mechanism and the clock-work 4that operates the same, and is designed to be letinto the door of a safe from its rear side, the front side ot' the door being male continuous throughout, so as to show no, trace of the whereabouts of the lock. The dial B, Fig. 4, is inscribed in the rear ,covering-plate ofthe case on the inside of the safe door. a is the hour-shaft of the clock-work;

b, a pinion on the outerend of the hour-shaft; c, a pinion intermediate between the pinion b and a spur-gear, d, by which the connection between the clock-work and the locking mechanism is eiected. The shaft e ot' the .spurgear passes through the rear covering-plate centrally of the dial B. The shaft e bears on its outer end a knob, f,4 detachable, and provided with a set-screw, lz, and a11i1idexiingei,

c', which moves over the dial B. '0n the shaft @within the frame-work C that sustains the shaft, is a Iixed nut, lo, Fig. 5,l and back ofthe nut on the shaft e is an eccentric, l, movable presenting no opposition; but if the shaft e be rotated backward while the eccentric is in.

contact with the nut la, the pawl n, slips into a notch, o, Fig.` 5, formed in the periphery ot' the eccentric, and prevents the revolution of the latter with the shaft e. As a consequence the eccentric moves backward on the screwthread of the shaft as long as the reverse motion ofthe latter continues.

D is the lock-bolt, occupying the lower tront corner of the case A. Withinthe lock-bolt is a recess in which is placed a lever, E, that is `pivoted at one extremity between lugs 1',

which project upward from the bottom ot the case A. G is a slot in the upper side ol' the bolt D. The eccentric rod s passes through the slot G in the bolt D, and also through the `slot in the lever E. A pin, s', passed through the end of the rod s serves to lift the lever E when the rod s is drawn up by the eccentric l. IfVhen the bolt D is thrust outward from the case A, so as to enter the keeper, the lever E both falls and is thrown downward by the spring g against the bottom of the case, and in this position it'holds the bolt outward, as shown in Fig. 1. The thrusting of the bolt outward is eii'ected-by turning the knob I, Fig. l, the stem of which passes through a plate, J, that projects from one side ot' the case.

stein, and is connected by a pitman, u, with a reciprocating plunger, lv, which plays in the tubc'w, and whose inner end bears agalnstthe extremity of ithe bolt D when the latterwis p wholly Within the-case. The knob I projects Y outward from the front side of the safe-door and is the one by which said door is opened and shut. The knob and lock'being separate, as shown in Figs. l and 2, the latter may be A'placed in the door at any distance from the An arm, t, is aiiixed to the rear end of said 2 y toeter knob. Consequently the knob affords no clue whereby a burglar may discover the position of the lock; but if, by some means, the loca- 'tion of the lock in the door has been ascertained, and the burglar proceeds to` drill intov the door in order to get at the lever E, which holds the bolt inthe keeper, he is compelled to work his way not only through the door and the case A, but also through the bolt D, before he can gain accessI tothe lever. It `will thus 'be seen with what extraordinary safeguards against burglary my lock is provided.

There is a small recess, X, Fig. 5, in the back plate of the case A, beneath the dial B,which admits of ldrawing theshafte outward, when desired, until the spur-gear d is clear of vthe 'pinion c. When the shaft has been thusdrawn outward,'by'turning:the knobf the spur-'gear may be revolved without disturbing the clockwork until the head of the eccentric rod s enters a recess formed in the lupper side of the bottom ofthe case A. In v this position the pin s is out of the way of. the' lever lll. This adjustment of the pin s must, of course, be effected previous to closing the door of the safe. The next step is to set the clock-work so that it will unlock the door at the proper time. If the interval during which the door is to remain locked is five hours, the eccentric I being in contact with the nut 7c, the index-finger is left at the;point to which it is brought by the abovefmentioned adjustment of the pin s,and the spur-'gear d is restored to connection with the pinion c. Then the door is closed and the bolt D thrust into the keeper by turning the knob I. Thereupon the lever E drops so as to lock the bolt. The knob I should-be turnedy on until the plunger yi is drawn backward into the tube u, in order that the said plunger may be out of the way when" the time comes for the bolt to be released from the keeper. The clockwork causes the .shaft e to revolve. The shaft e rotates the eccentric l, and the eccentric, by means of the pin s', draws the lever E upward.

Athe excess of time above five hours.

theeceentric strikes the nut again will thepinn By thetinietheindeX-nger reaches Von the dial the lever E will have been raised clear of 'the bolt. [inmediately upon the raising of the lever clear ofthe boltl the spring p throws the` latter inward, and the door is unlocked.

y If the door is to remain locked for less than five hours, the index-finger should be moved on until the interval between it and V on the dial is such as may be passed over by the linger in the required time.

It theI door is to remainlocked for more than five hours, the eccentric l must be moved away from the nut lo by the reverse motion of the shaft e, as before described, until an interval is lobtained which may be traversed by the eccentric while returning toward the nut in Not till s begin to raise the lever E.

The slot G through thebolt D permits the l' clock-Work to run on Without interruption after the bolt has been released.

The clock-work may be set so as to unlock the door after an interval of any length, from tive minutes up.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isi l. The combination of the bolt D and doorknob I, by means of the plunger e, pitman u,

and the stem of the knob, or other equivalent mechanism, which is operativewhen the knob and lock are entirely separate, and the knob does not indicate the position of the lock.

2. The combination of the lever E, bolt D, eccentric rod s, eccentric l, nut 7c, and shaft e, in the manner and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the shaft e, eccentric Z, eccentric strap m, andautomatic pawl n, in

the manner and for theobject set forth.

.L. A. HAINES. Witnesses D. OURAND, Unas. A. PEr'rrr. 

